359
submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Bayer’s Monsanto was ordered to pay more than $1.5 billion Friday over claims its patented weed-killer, Roundup, was linked to users’ cancer, Bloomberg reported.

James Draeger, Valerie Gunther and Dan Anderson were each awarded a total of $61.1 million in actual damages and $500 million each in punitive damages by jurors in state court in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The three people alleged that their non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas — a type of cancer that begins in your lymphatic system, part of the body’s immune system — were caused by years of using Roundup while gardening.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] zazo@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Not sure how that degree makes you an expert in toxicology or cancer research, but I sure hope you've not made your mind up about Roundup being safe. I'm not saying it's not (the WHO is) but from experience I've found that treating potentially cancer causing chemicals with extra care is less likely to well...give you cancer.

But I'm willing to hear your side. Just fyi I don't think the argument "it's the best we got right now or people starve" is any stronger than saying "we can't switch from lead pipes, the people will die of thirst".

[-] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

My BSc was in pharmacology which gives me a passing familiarity with those subjects. My conclusions aren't faith-based - any strong evidence, especially toxicology data, would certainly change my mind.

I think the average agricultural worker should be much more concerned about, for example, silicosis. That's legitimately scary and ruins countless lives.

I work with dangerous machinery and chemicals all the time and my position at present is that glyphosate is orders of magnitude less dangerous than many common household solvents and cleaning products.

[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Then what is your thought on the specific data presented by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and their classification of glyphosate as, "probably carcinogenic to humans"?

Pardon me but I just thought if a self-proclaimed expert in the field was going to mount a defense, I'd see a more data-oriented stance. I am an Engineer, myself, and I appreciate data-driven points. Not, "drinking lube" because it's "probably safe" and "give them a glass of shit".

Alas, my original comment was less about having an argument over the matter at this time and more shooting the shit about my past experience on Reddit. Others here shared a similar experience with vitriolic brigaders on Reddit just the same.

[-] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

I don't consider myself an expert, and I accept that data. It probably does have the potential to be carcinogenic, particularly with chronic, high exposure. Many fairly innocuous things are, like eating pickles. It's a relevant concern for certain agricultural workers, but doesn't really warrant a ban.

[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago

Well that's something I can generally come to terms with. It's certainly not up to me to decide whether it's worth a ban or not and there is enough mixed data and conclusions on the subject that I don't think it's cut-and-dry, but clearly poses a risk with chronic exposure as you mention. I certainly wouldn't want my family-members exposed to it on a farm.

To the consumer down the line? Yeah, it doesn't keep me up at night. PFAS/PFOAS/forever-chemicals seem far more concerning in that respect to the end-user.

[-] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

That would be a new topic for me.

this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
359 points (99.2% liked)

News

23268 readers
1836 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS